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Here are two fascinating web sites that are likely to be of interest to most model flight enthusiasts, even though neither of them feature flying models! I came across the first one in R/C Model World where it was mentioned on Geoff Hiding's Web Watch page, but since you won't all be subscribers to that mag, I thought I would share it with you here, and in a bit more detail. I was invited to view the second one through an e-mail sent to me by the site owners - some of you might have received the same invitation!

The site is a showcase for Carlos' work and consists principally of four 'galleries', three of which each specialise in a specific category of aviation art - Commercial, Military and Profiles. The fourth gallery is entitled Various and has a mixture of subjects, mostly aviation orientated but also including a few other subjects. The site carries pictures that have been produced for clients and details of some prints for sale. Carlos can be commissioned to produce an original. There is also a Biography page, from which I have gleaned the following information on this gifted man. 

Carlos was born in Argentina in 1960 and his professional work in aviation art started in 1984 when he was a sketcher for Aerospacio, a public Argentine Air Force magazine. This has been followed over the years by various other illustrator contracts, with Carlos later establishing  his own editorial house which he eventually sold in 1996.  He mainly uses oils for painting but also employs acrylics and airbrush techniques for accurate illustrations such as his beautifully detailed profiles, I guess.

In mid-2000, Carlos qualified as the first South American artist member of the American Society of Aviation Artists, and around the same time he won a further contract from Pegasus Aviation Inc (USA) to produce 10 oil paintings for the company to present to important and favoured clients. One of his 1999 commissions was this Argentine postage stamp depicting a Laté 25 and carrying a credit to Carlos in the bottom left-hand corner.

Each gallery displays a collection of thumbnails of Carlos' paintings with the usual option of viewing them full screen - and they are certainly well worth a closer look. Below, as a sample, is a picture from each of the Commercial, Military and Profile collections on display.  

Boeing 727 © Carlos A Garcia	A4 - AR © Carlos A Garcia	AT-6 Texan © Carlos A Garcia

All images are copyright and must not be reproduced without the artist's permission; I am grateful to Carlos for allowing me to reproduce the above images on ModelFlight, including the site-opener. I am putting a permanent link to Carlos' site on the Suppliers links page and I record my thanks to him for reciprocating with a ModelFlight link on his.

The site address is http://fly.to/carlosagarcia 

This is an amazing collection of models, described as "the most comprehensive collection of aircraft and helicopters in the world, including 1,200 unique examplars, each one hand-made, and built as a document of the history of flight".

The collection was built up over a period of many years by the father of the current sellers, who are having to sell the exhibition mainly for reasons of space, it would seem.

These thumbnails show a few of the models and a shot of the current exhibition. If you go to the website itself, you will find a very comprehensive set of photographs and a full catalogue of the contents of the exhibition, plus other details of the sale. 

Want to know more? visit http://www.mspweb.net/piazzai - and please let me know if you buy it - it would make a great visitor attraction somewhere and could be a nice little earner!